Breech-loading ordnance.



No. 783,050. y r PATENTED EEB. 21, 1.9-0.5.

J. J. KNAPP G. W. DUNN. L

BREEGH LOADING ORDNANCE.

APPLICATION lFILED JUNE 10. 1904.

- SuwMtopJ Kaw b 19W @Mmmm MZ? UNITED ST ATES Patented February 21,1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN J. KNAPP, OF THE UNITEDl STATES NAVY.AND GEORGE W. DUNN,

OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT "OF COLUMBIA. ASSIGNORS TO JOHN J.

KNAPIJ, TRUSTEE, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

BREEGHMLOADINGv ORDNANC-E.

SPECIFICATION' forming partV of Letters Patent No: 783,050, datedFebruary v21, 1905.

Application filed J une 10, 1904. Serial No. 212,009.

specification, and to the letters of reference` marked thereon.

This invention has for its object primarily nto provide an eective meansfor preventing the flare-back or the escape from the breech of a gunofthe gaseous products or of any residue o`r material remaining in thegun after a discharge, although by the usel of the present invention itis designed notonly to accomplish these objects,but also to effectually'clean the bore of the gun prior to the entire removal of thebreech-block of all products or matter remaining in the bore andbreechchamber of the gun, as well as toi provide a means whereby thetemperature of the gun may. be kept down to overcome the liability 'ofthe premature discharge of ithe next suc? ceeding charge, or thedeterioration of said charge should it remain in the gun for any lengthof time without being fired.

A further o bject of the invention is to provii-ie a device of suchcharacter that itmay be readily applied to guns at present in usewithoutthe necessity of alteration such as would require the dismountingand returning of 'the guns to the shops and which when applied `will notto any appreciable extent change the 40 balancing-point of the gun or inany, Way af-l" feet its normal accuracy and operation.

A further ob'ject of the invention isl to pro.-A

vide a means whereby the gun may b'e cleared of objectionable productsremaining'at'ter a' discharge without imposing. upon the gunl crew anylabor or care other than is ordinarily required in the opening of thebreech, the recharging of thejgun, and the closing of ,the-

this feature ofthe invention the apparatus is made automatic in its`action and is conordinarily and necessarily'moved inl opening andclosing the breech-chamber of the gun. A still further object of theinvention is to provide a mechanism whichwill not be liable todestruction by reason of the recoil movements of the gun.

Figure 1 is a perspective View looking at the breech of an veight-inchgun,I the gun" itself, with its attachments and Working parts, beingshown in dotted lines and the portion of the apparatus pertaining to thepresent invention being shown in full' lines. Figs. 2 and 3 are detaildiagrammatic views illustrating more particularly. the details ofconstruction of theapparatus and showing its application lto the gun.Figs.l 4, 5, and 6 are details of the valve, handle telescopingsections, and re,- lief-valve, respectively. A

Like letters of reference in the several {igures indicate the sameparts. l The gun illustrated in the accompanying drawings is of awell-known type and will not be particularly described further than tosay that the stationary portionoi:` 'the mount or .carriage is indicatedbythe letter A, the slide pivoted in the carriage sion is'made forrecoil action in the usual manner and suitable recoil-checks, such asindi catedat D, are provided for arresting. therecoil and returning thegun to its normal position.`

.The removable breech-"block is` shown in Fig. 1 1n its'open position,and from this Elgfore, provided with an enlarged chamber for thereception of the breech-block and a reduced bore, the riiiing of thelatter being shown in Fig. 2.

In accordance with the present invention vprovision is made forinjecting a medium of a gaseous lor iuid nature into the breech of thegun during the initial stagesof the opening trolled in its operation bythe parts which are' l by the letter B, andv the body ofthe gun by-theletter C. Proviure it will be seen that the gun-is, as hereto-4 breech.In othenwords, in accordance with Referring to the accompanylngdrawings,

movement of the breech-block, the injection of this mediumcontinuing fora period sufficiently long to insure the sweeping or cleaning out of thegun throughoutits whole length and the effectual extinguishment of anyburning material or material liable to. ignite upon exposure to air. Themedium which is injected in the breech of the gun may for convenience betermed a cleaning medium, and it may consist of air or water oramixturel of air and water, with either or both of which chemicals may becombined to increase the cleaning or extinguishing effects, said mediumbeing forced into the breech of the gun under high pressure andpreferably through a nozzle or, nozzles opening into' the breechchamberaround the breechblock when in place in the gun. f

Referring to Fig. 1, it will be seen that, as illustrated, two nozzlesare provided in the gun, said nozzles being lettered E. Said nozzleshave their apertures, as before stated, in the enlarged breech-chamber,and they are so positioned and pointed as to direct the medium issuingtherefrom in spiral lines toward the nozzle of the gun. The angleof thenozzles is preferably such that their discharge will just escape theshoulder at the inner end of the breech-chamber and will enter the boreof the gun with a swirling motion conforming in a greater or less degreeto the spiral lines -of the riiing in the bore. `The nozzles may beformed by simple ducts in the wall of the gun itself or ducts may beformed in the gun and suitably lined to constitute the nozzles, as maybe found most desirable. For supplying the cleaning medium to thenozzles branch ducts F extend from their outer ends to a suitable valveto be presently described, in which they unite and to whichy the mediumis supplied under pressure by a duct in communication with any suitablesource, such, for instance, as an air-pressure system and thewater-pressure system, the two systems beingindicated diagrammaticallyin Fig. 2 at g and g',^re Y spectively.

The valve before referred to is preferably a valve which will controlthe supplyof cleaning medium to both nozzles; or a greater o r lessnumber of nozzles are employed will control the supply of cleaningmedium to all of Athe nozzles employed, and it is preferablyanautomaticvalve-that is to say, a valve which will be automatically opened bye theopening of the breech-block and again closed aftenit has remained openedfor a sufficient length of time. As illustrated, the valve is oi anordinary type of plug-valve adapted to be opened or closed by means of ahandle orprojection H, 'connected' with the upper portion of thevalve-stem t. The projection H extends into the path of the breech-blockor into the path of a projection thereon and is adapted to be moved soas to open the valve by the movement of the breech-block itself as itmoves 'to its open position. As illustrated, the handle I or projectionon the valve extends into the path of the spiral projections on thebreech-plug, which constitute one of the-portions of the. mutilatedthread for holding the breech-block in its closed position. Thus theturning of the breech-block does not of itself release or open thevalve; but the initial outward movement of the breech-block instantlyopens the valve, and the injection of the cleaning, cooling, and theextinguishing medium commences simultaneously with the opening of a ventaround the breech-block, thus enveloping the breechblock in said medium,and the instant the bore of the gun is opened any and all products ormaterialremaining in said bore and around the inner portion of the'breech-block will be affected by the said medium and ordinarily will beswept forwardly and out of the muzzle of the gun before the breech-blockreaches its full open position or a sufficient aperture is formed topermit of a flare-back. It is obvious that the valve', having beenopened by the opening movement of the breech-block, could be permittedto remain opened until closed by hand or until an inspection through thebreech-opening discloses the fact that the gun had been effectuallycleaned, or ifcooling be the object sought ro be attained it couldremain open until sufficiently cooled by the medium injected through thenozzle. 1n the preferred arrangement, however, the valve is adapted tobe automatically closed by a spring,

`(indicated at I in lFig. 2,) such spring operating to return the valveto its normal position the instant the breech-block moves out ofengagement with the handle or projection., It Will be understood,however, that the valve may be opened by hand at any time and held v :o5

opened should it seem necessary or desirable to continue the injectionof the cleaning and cooling medium for a longer period. To perlmit thebreech-block to be again entered into its chamber without affecting thevalve itself, the end of the handle or projection is preferably arrangedto yield upon the return move- IIO ment of the breech-block, and forthis purpose the arrangement may be as illustrated, wherein the end'ofthe projection lor handle adapted to engage the breech-block is shown inthe form of a spring-pressed pawl K, having one of its faces c inclinedat such an angle that on the return movement of the breechblock the pawl,will be retracted without affecting the valve; but on the openingmovement of the breech-block vthe pawl will engage therewith and cause.the valve to be opened, as before described.

Inasmuch as the gun has arecoil movement, it is necessary to providesome means whereby the medium for cleaning, cooling,` &c., may beconveyed to the valve and nozzles without danger of having theconnections broken by the said recoil movement. Obviously extensible orflexible' connections may trated in the accompanying drawings, acylinder M, constituting one of the telescopic sections of the duct, issecuredto the gunmou'nt, preferably by brackets m, whlch may forconvenience be connected. with the supports for one of the recoil-checkcylinders, and sliding into this cylinderl through a stuiing-box n isatelescopic section N, secured at its outer end by a bracket O to aportion of the gun itself. The telescopic section N forms a c on-Dtinuation of a pipe O', leading to the valve, and it will be understoodthat the two telescopic sections Nand M extend in a line parallel withthe line of gun movement during recoil. A iiexible hose or metallicswiveljoint, preferably a metallic hose, (indicated at P,) connects withthe forward end of the cylinder M, and from the hose P suitableconnections at p and p extend to-air and water systems or supplies forfeeding air or Water under pressure, in practice such pressure beingpreferably in the neighborhood of two hundred pounds to thesquare inch,although wide variation may be made without departing from theinvention.

To prevent any possibility of a bursting pressure in the system, arelief-valve Q is provided, such valve being loaded to maintain therequired pressurein the system and to` permit of an escape should thepressure exceed the limit.

It will be noted particularly that the iiexible hose or jointedconnection P permits of the gun movements for elevation` and depression,while the telescopic sections permit -of the gun movements for recoilaction, and such parts are preferably made relatively lightfso as toavoid any appreciable increase in the weight on one side of the pivot ofthe gun.

- A s a consequence the entire attachment does not appreciably alter thebalance oftlie gun nor does it in any way afect the accuracy -or theconvenience and speed with which the ordinarymanipulations of the gunNmay be performed. c A

rI`he cooling eifect of the medium due to its expansion as it leaves thenozzles within the breech of the gun is a material factor in keepingdown the temperature of the gun, and in operation it is found 'that theexpansion of the medium, together with the Vair drawn in with the samearound. the breech-block during the opening of the latter, is suicientin volume to entirely ll the bore of the gun almost instantly and toform a violent sweeping draft through the gun from the breech to themuzzle, thereby eiiectuallypreventing any possibility of a flare-back or-1 the escape into a turret of any of the gases, sparks, burning orpartially-burned powder-bags, or any material liable to remain in thegun after a shot has been fired.

, In addition to the advantages enumerated the arrangement is effectivein preventinga hang-fire. For instance, when the primer is fired and thecartridge-bag ignitedv without igniting the charge the bag Smolders andon the opening of ,the breech is formed into a ame; but withA thepresent arrangement a strong force of water may be-turned on and thebreech-plug just started, so that the wathe access of air thereto.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire tosecure by Lett'ers Patent` is 1. In a cleaner for the purpose specified,the combination with the gun and removable breech-block therefor, of thesupply for cleaning medium, nozzle for directing the cleaning mediuminto the breech of the gun and a valve controlling said supply having anoperatinghandle' extending into the path of the breech block to be movedthereby to open the valve and contacting with a side portion of. thebreech-block to hold thevalve open during the opening movement of thebreech-block; sub- Y stantially` as described. 2.v In a cleaner for thepurpose specied, the

- combination with the gun and removable breech-block therefor, of thesupply for cleaning medium, nozzle for directing the cleaning l mediuminto the breech of the gun'and a valve controlling said supply havinganoperatinghandle extending vinto the path of the breechblock to bemoved lthereby to open the valve, and having a yielding end portion topermit the breech-block to return to its seat when the lvalve isclosed'.

3. In a cleaner for the purpose specified the ,combination with" the gunand removable ter will extinguish thesmoldering bag before IOO IIO

breech-block therefor, of the supply for cleaning medium, nozzlefordirecting the cleaning medium intothe breech of the gun and a valvs;controlling said supply having an operating handle with a yielding endportion extending into the path of the b'reech-blck to be moved therebyto open the valve, and contacting with aside portionl of thebreech-block to hold'the valve open during the opening movement of thebreech-block, said yielding end portion permitting of the return of thebreech-block I'IS n to itsse'atwhen the valve-is closed. f

4. Ina cleaner for' breech-loading ordnance, the combination with thegun and removable breech-block, of a'nozzle. and s\'1p.ply-duct foi-lthe cleaning medium,a cock for opening and closing 4the same, 'a springfor automatically closing the cock and a projection for opening 'the'cock adapted to be moved by the opening of the breech-block;substantially as described.

5. 'In breech-loading ordnance, a supply for cleaning medium and aself-closing valve and means whereby said valve is automatically openedby the opening o f the breech; substantially as described. Y

6. In breech-loading ordnance` the combi nation with the gun-mount, thegun novably mounted thereon and a nozzle for the admission of cleaningmedium to the breech of the gun; of an extensible duct for the supply ofcleaning medium and a relief-valve in said duct; substantially asdescribed.

7, In breech-loading ordnance, the combination with the gub-mount thegun movably mounted thereon and a nozzle for the admission of cleaningmedium to the breech of the gun, of a duct embodying telescopingsections one connected with the mount and another with the gun and arelief-valve in said duct; substantially as described.

8. In'breech-loading ordnance the combination with the gun and nozzledirected into the b reech of the gun, of an air-supply duct vanse 9. Inbreech-loading ordnance, a supply for cleaning medium, a self-closingvalve, means whereby the valve is automatically opened by the initialopening movement of the breechblock and means whereby it isautomatically held open duringthe continuedopening movement of thebreech-block. v

10. In breech-loading ordnance.a supply for cleaning medium, aself-closing valve, means whereby the valve is automatically opened bythe opening movement of the breech-block and means whereby thebreech-block may be returned to its seat while the valve is closed;substantially as described. 4

` JOHN J. KNAPP.

GEORGE W. DUNN. Witnesses:

H. G. MAYnRLoUD, GEORGE N. HAYWARD.

